Prosecutor Asks State Police For Help In Central City Case

Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Shue has asked the Arkansas State Police to assist him in investigating payments made by Central City to the former mayor’s wife and daughter.

The Legislative Joint Auditing Committee last month referred a report from the state Division of Legislative Audit to Shue that found that a total of $10,536 was paid to the wife and daughter of then-mayor W.B. Barnard III for contract labor in 2009 and 2010. The two were hired to do office work.

Arkansas law prohibits city officials and city employees from entering into contracts that would benefit themselves personally unless the city council approves the contracts in the form of an ordinance. The contracts with Barnard’s wife and daughter received no such approval, according to the audit report.

Auditors also found that the amounts were not properly reported to the IRS as income and that the supervisor who signed the time sheets of the mayor’s wife was the mayor.

After receiving additional information he requested from the committee, Shue sent a letter to state police on Monday asking for their assistance “to determine what may have happened with regard to these payments.”

Once the investigation is complete, Shue will determine what, if any, criminal charges will be filed.

Harold Wallace, who has been Central City mayor since January 2011, said the Barnards no longer live in Central City.